Goldman, who now lives in Huntington Beach, Calif., said the C-shaped flexors became her wings, taking her to heights she'd never considered when she was able-bodied.

"Before my accident," she said from her Seattle hotel room, "I didn't exercise, I wasn't one to deal with pain, I wasn't one to sweat.

"When I first put on those cheetah legs, I never wanted to look back. I started to run for the thrill, the enjoyment, not knowing what would happen to me. It changed my life completely."

A new life coming

Goldman gained high-profile exposure in 1999 through an Adidas commercial that showed her running track on her cheetahs.

She later won a small part as Spice Girl Robot in the film "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence."

Last March she filmed a small part in another Spielberg film, "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise. It's due for release sometime this year.

In April she married a longtime friend, Beau Marseilles, who became, in her words, "the love of my life." She now signs her name Jami Goldman-Marseilles.

During a recent interview, her appetite took a sudden lurch, hinting at an even bigger change -- ETA July 18.

"I'm pregnant," she explained as she tore into a bag of blue corn chips and a bowl of salsa. "I feel terrific. I have to just listen to my body."

Goldman has been listening to her body since she took up competitive running in 1996 at the urging of her prosthetics fitter.

"Becoming an athlete has helped me accept myself as an amputee," said Goldman, whose brisk, easy gait belies her disability.

Her artificial legs have literally heightened her appearance. Originally 5-foot-1, she gradually raised her height with successively higher prostheses and now stands 5-foot-6.

Her book-cover photo projects an image of sturdy athleticism, but in person Goldman was strikingly petite, almost dainty-looking in a red sweater and black-leather pants that hugged her tiny frame. In place of her usual sneakers, she wore dressy black loafers.

Goldman also has a wardrobe of legs, which have to be refabricated periodically as her limbs change in size. Besides the cheetahs, she has everyday walking legs and jogging flexors. For dress-up, she wears legs with a cosmetic covering that gives them a more lifelike shape and color -- plus 2-inch heels.

"When you see them lying around, they look like Barbie feet," she said. "The heel doesn't touch the ground."

Goldman has become an advocate of more research and better insurance coverage of cutting-edge prostheses, which can cost several thousand dollars a pair. She has testified in Congress and says access to the evolving technology could help many people now confined to wheelchairs.

Her own accomplishments are her best argument. After several years of rigorous training as a sprinter, Goldman won gold medals, set records, earned a spot on the U.S. World Championship team for disabled runners and narrowly missed a slot at the intensely competitive 2000 Paralympics.

After participating in last year's grueling, three-day Avon Breast Cancer Walk -- much of it in a downpour -- she switched to distance events. She now jogs, wearing legs that resemble her cheetahs, only flatter.

"When you run distance, you want more foot placement on a flatter surface," Goldman said, "and when you run track you're more 'up on your toes.'"

Thawing was the worst

Although her sports feats are impressive, her toughest experience remains her forced hibernation in the snowbound Blazer all those years ago.

The ordeal began when Goldman and Barzano got lost returning from a ski trip. Their only food was a cinnamon roll. Eating snow paradoxically increased their thirst, so they used a car key to scrape suckable sludge from the top of a frozen Diet Pepsi. A small plastic bag served as their Port-A-Potty.

They listened in vain for snowplows to clear the thigh-high accumulation on the back road, not realizing that highway officials barricaded the road shortly after they turned onto it.

As the hours stretched to days with no rescue in sight, the women by turns crashed emotionally and tried to buck each other up.

"The strength that we had for each other -- that's what saved our lives," Goldman said.

Each day the car froze at night and melted during the day. Inside, everything got wet, including their clothes. When the women were finally rescued, their feet were swollen, numb and discolored.

"I think the pain was worse after we were found because they started thawing," said Goldman, who spent nine hellish days in intensive care.

"Our hands had frostbite on them -- our ears, our nose. I'm very surprised I didn't lose more than I did."

While the young women were missing, their parents experienced another side of hell.

Frightened and bewildered at their daughters' disappearance two days before Christmas, they tried without success to galvanize a search. According to Goldman, police officials responded that the women were probably just out partying.

In desperation, Goldman's parents hired two private investigators. One, a shadowy figure they nicknamed "the Spook," told them the women had been kidnapped by a drug ring and sold into prostitution.

Goldman credits extensive media coverage of their disappearance for "shaming" the police into launching a search nearly a week after she and Barzano were reported missing.

They were finally found near death by a recreational snowmobiler and his 12-year-old son, who was on his own machine. Unable to summon aid, they ended up carrying the shoeless women eight miles to safety on their snowmobiles.

Goldman and Barzano later sued the state of Arizona. In her book, Goldman explains:

"Arizona had closed an open state highway after we turned onto it, never bothering to search for travelers in distress. When we were reported missing, neither the DPS (Department of Public Safety), the Department of Transportation nor the police had done anything for a week, despite our parents' cries for help."

The defense in turn blamed the women for their predicament, saying they should have carried emergency equipment. In the rancorous atmosphere, even the depth of the snow was in dispute.

"It forced me to grow up very quickly," Goldman said bitterly.

The jury ruled in favor of Goldman and Barzano, but reduced their monetary award by 42 percent, assigning them that share of contributory blame. Goldman's final award was around $1 million.

Legs lost, life saved

By the time her lawyer proposed she write a book, Goldman had blotted out many traumatic details.

"For me, it was more about going on with life," she said, "and that's what I've been doing for the past 14 years. Once I started to work with Andrea (Cagan) and the tape recorder, that's when it started to come back."

Barzano ended up losing only the tips of three toes, but in no way did she get off easy. After 13 surgeries, she still battles pain from tissue damage stemming from frostbite. Her feet are fragile and subject to stress fractures just from walking.

"Her feet have been compared to (those of) an elderly woman with arthritis," Goldman said.

Amputation, in the end, was Goldman's only option. It not only saved her life, it ended her suffering. Although she continues to have twinges and phantom sensations, she is not in pain.

"I was very, very physically ill 'til they took my feet away," Goldman said. "Sometimes you come to a point in life where, if an artificial limb will give you more of what you need in life, you're better off choosing the amputation."

She said she no longer misses her "real" legs. Her life is full and about to get fuller. And beneath the feisty exterior, she's still the same old Jami.

Only now, she said, she rejoices in "the opportunity to wake up every day with someone I love and enjoy the preciousness of life."